


david tries real hard

by taylor_tut



Series: Whump Bingo [9]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Awesome Gwen, Fainting, Fever, Gen, Protective Gwen, Protective Max, Sick Character, Sickfic, sick david
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 00:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14367444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Another fic for whump bingo on tumblr: David gets pretty sick but tries just to work through it. Goes about as well as it usually does in my fanfics





	david tries real hard

Ever since he was a kid, David got excessively dizzy when he ran fevers. 

It was just one of those great little gifts that life gives you sometimes. Whether it was a real biological response or the universe telling him “hey, idiot, I know you’re not going to rest when you’re sick so I’m just gonna throw you on the floor instead,” but either way, as soon as his temperature spiked over 101 degrees, everything started to spin.

He’d gone to bed with a slight sense of vertigo and woken up that morning feeling like things were whirling.

And he was late. Shit. Late like, as in, breakfast was over with and the campers were already waiting for the explanation of the day’s activity. David threw on his clothes and rushed to the camp commons.

“David, there you are,” Gwen sighed, clearly relieved that she wasn’t going to have to deal with the kids all alone. “I was starting to worry.”

David plastered on a smile. “I’m sorry that I overslept,” he apologized. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I tried,” she said. “I was beating down your door for a while this morning, but you didn’t respond. I figured you either really needed the sleep, or that you were dead, and it was too early to deal with a corpse.” 

David chuckled. “I understand.”

With a more scrutinizing eye than David thought he could fool, Gwen looked him up and down. “Are you good?” she asked. “I figured you were just tired, but you kind of look like shit.”

David swayed, playing it off like he was reaching out to turn her toward the campers by the shoulders. “Let’s get to introducing the game,” he dodged. 

The kids were sitting in the dirt waiting for instructions, but Max thought that the mesh bag of kickballs pretty much gave it away--they were playing sports. Great. This was a super athletic group, and this could only go very well.

“Okay, campers,” David began, clearing his throat hoping against hope that his voice wasn’t starting to go, too, “today’s event is team sports. We’ve got kickball, dodgeball, and ultimate Frisbee on the schedule.” A hand shot up and David felt guilty for dreading it. “Yes, Max?”

He looked particularly unimpressed. “Your shirt’s inside-out, jackass,” he pointed out. David looked down--Max was right. He’d put it on in such a rush this morning, and his vision had been doing such somersaults that he hadn’t noticed. 

“Right, that’s… well, we can’t play shirts and skins, so we’re going to do, erm…”

“Dumb and dumber?” Max suggested, and David sighed. 

“Not the words I would use,” he said, “but--”

Gwen interrupted. “We actually have bandanas for one team, so your fashion statement is unnecessary,” she said. 

David nodded. God, now his head was starting to really pound, too. He tried to steady himself on the mobile chalkboard, forgetting it was on wheels, and ended up riding it into the dirt. The campers erupted into laughter while Gwen helped him up, giving him a skeptical once-over.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she whispered. “This is clumsy even by your standards.” 

David nodded, too dazed to really say anything. “You can explain the rules while I get the equipment out?” he asked hopefully, and though she still wasn’t entirely sold, she nevertheless turned back to the kids and started to explain the bases of kickball, emphasizing without breaking eye contact with Nurf that the ball was the only thing that should be kicked. 

Meanwhile, David allowed himself a moment to collect himself while he knelt down to unpack the bag. He couldn’t quite tell if he was hot or cold. Part of him wanted to say hot, because on the one hand, it was a hot day, and he was sweating. However, the other hand’s shivering and chill bumps offered a convincing argument. Before he could think too deeply into it, Gwen was dismissing the kids to form teams.

“So, David,” Max drawled sardonically, suddenly beside him, “are you concussed, drunk, or having a stroke?”

“I--I don’t know what you mean,” David replied innocently. 

“Oh, come on,” Max rolled his eyes, “that crap might work on Gwen, but I’m not an idiot.” 

“I’m fine, Max,” David insisted, despite having to touch a hand down on the ground in order to keep from falling over, “just forgot to set my alarm last night.”

“Really,” Max said, clearly unconvinced. “Then stand up.”

With a deep breath, David hoisted himself up from the ground--only to watch everything grey out around him. When he next opened his eyes, Max was staring at him cockily. 

Gwen saved him by calling for his attention. 

“Come on, Max; we’ve got a game to start.”

By the end of kickball, the dizziness had become constant rather than improving, which was exactly the opposite of what David had hoped. He knew that as soon as he took a step away from the tree that he was leaning against, that he’d be done for, and that he should probably just bite the bullet and tell Gwen that he needed to go lie down. 

But Gwen was really far away.

“Okay, kids; good game,” she congratulated, “take a water break, and then we’ll start dodgeball.” Without turning around, she told David to hand out the water bottles.

“Can I get some helpers?” he asked.

Neil, Nikki, and Preston stepped forward as volunteers, watching as David dropped hard down to his knees in front of the cooler. 

“Uh… David?” Nikki called, “you good?” 

David handed her a few water bottles without a word. God, he was so tired, and the quicker they were done with this, the quicker he could get back to bed. Neil and Preston got armfuls of water bottles, too, but by this point, hydrating was the farthest thing from anyone’s mind. 

“I think he fell asleep standing up,” Nerris noted amusedly. 

His hands were doing a strange thing in his vision, shrinking and growing in time with the pounding in his head. He was aware of the campers talking to one another, and possibly to him, but nothing that anyone was saying was really registering. Gwen. He needed Gwen. She always made things better.

The closest person was Max, and he grabbed him by the hood as he tried to walk past. 

“Gah--god damnit, David, what the hell?” Well, he hadn’t meant to pull him as hard as he had, and immediately felt bad about it. That took precedence. 

“S’rry,” he slurred, “you okay?” 

Max’s eyes went wide. “Shit, David, you look--Jesus. Nikki, go get Gwen.” He heard her little footsteps take off running. “You, ‘fess up.”

David blinked confusedly.

“Well?” he prompted. 

“I don’t… know what y’r askin’,” he admitted. 

“I mean, tell me what’s wrong,” Max demanded. There was no mirth to his tone, just impatience, anger, and something else, something David had never heard in Max’s voice before, but couldn’t quite identify. Something soft.

“Sick,” he managed, “feel--sick.” 

There was no hiding the concern in Max’s face now, nor the panic in his voice. When he pressed a hand to David’s cheeks, he let out a stream of curses that was impressive even for Max.

It wasn’t super scientific, Neil would point out later, but pouring a cold bottle of water over David’s head was the best Max course of action Max could think of. 

David passed out anyway.

Waking up in his bed was confusing but not unwelcome. 

“Ngh,” he groaned, “Gwen?” she startled awake in the seat that she’d taken next to his bed, and Max did the same from his place in the corner of the room.

“You’re an idiot,” two voices overlapped.Gwen turned around and sighed. 

“Max, I told you to go back to your cabin.”

Max shrugged. “I wanted to be the first to tell David how stupid he is.”

Gwen smiled a bit. “Sure, Max,” she agreed. Turning back to David, her expression darkened. “He’s not wrong,” she said. “You were burning up so bad that we had to put you in the shower for like fifteen minutes just to get your temperature down to like 102.” 

David looked down at his hands as he wrung them together. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, “really. It got bad way faster than I thought.”

“Well, when it’s ‘bad’ is, like, way later than you should have told me,” she pointed out.

He nodded. “Did I freak the kids out?”

“Of course you fucking did,” Max interjected, “you fainted in the middle of an activity!”

Gwen breathed a sigh through her nose. “Come on, Max,” she said, deciding David looked enough like a kicked puppy for now, “we should let him rest for a while. But we’re not done talking about this,” she warned.

“Understood,” David replied. “Uh, I wanted--before you go--thanks,” he fumbled. “You know, for being there. Both of you.”

Gwen smiled, but Max just looked angrily at the ceiling.

“Just fucking sleep and stop talking,” Max said. David would really have to make this up to the campers, but for now, he just needed a nap.


End file.
